The refugee crisis

Millions of men, women and children around the world have been forced out of their homes because of conflict or natural disaster. They desperately need somewhere to resettle and rebuild their lives, but there aren’t enough countries willing or able to respond to that need.

It’s a humanitarian crisis on an unprecedented scale. And one that we can, and must, respond to.

Real lives

Behind those huge numbers are countless, individual stories of human suffering and brave endurance in the face of life-threatening situations.

“War means killing. You do not know what the source of it is. Suddenly you look for someone dear to you, then you find that he’s been killed by bombardment or bullets.”

“There was a lot of killing of men, children and women. We were very scared from the shelling that was happening in Syria. We were always hiding and there were blackouts.”

“We had to wait at the border before we were allowed to cross. We suffered from the cold and rain. We had only our wet clothes to wear, and virtually no food for four days.”

Key stats

Right now, there are more refugees and displaced people around the world than at any time since World War II – 65.5 million according to the UNHCR, the UN agency dedicated to protecting and supporting them.

That number is growing at an unprecedented rate – every single day, 28,000 more people are forced to flee their homes because of conflict, persecution and natural disasters.

Definitions

A refugee is someone who’s fled their home due to race, religion, nationality, social group or political opinion.

An asylum seeker is someone who’s fled to another country and hasn’t yet been granted refugee status.

An internally displaced person is someone who’s fled to a different region of their country, and hasn’t crossed an international border.

The situation in Syria

The people of Syria have been caught up in almost seven years of bitter internal conflict in their country. During that time, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, towns and cities have been reduced to rubble and over 5.4 million Syrians have been forced to flee for safety to neighbouring countries and beyond.

Life is a daily struggle for these people. Few are able to find work to meet even their basic needs. As a result, huge numbers are dependent on humanitarian aid – food, medicines, shelter, clothing – for their very survival.

Despite their struggle and the trauma they’ve lived through, refugees show amazing strength and resilience and will do whatever they can to build a safe and dignified future for themselves and their families. Now is the time for us to stand with them, and help them do just that.